Bikes on trains in the UK

Yeah, it seems the SWR made it slightly clearer but I'd lost interest by then.

Anyway, will have another crack at using SW trains for the Brimstone 600k on late May bank holiday.

Glad it all worked and that the ever reliable yet ever surprising friendliness of strangers was reconfirmed for you.

Haha funny timing. Looking for a lost Garmin SD card and found some Sony phone memory. Look at the rubbish on it..

5 Attachments

I've booked a train ride to Blackburn and back which is very exciting. I also made a reservation for my bike both ways. What is the procedure that one has to go through at Euston when boarding?

Last time I did it in late 2020, you basically had to wait for the platform to be announced, then rush to get on with enough time to work out where you were meant to put your bike. Then put it in to the tiny little rack. I'm not aware of any way of getting earlier access to the platform.
If you can do some homework before and work out which carriage you are likely to be aiming for, it reduces the stress levels a bit.
Also, think about what you'll do with your luggage while you are putting your bike on - leave on platform or carry with you, if not too many small bags to manage. You can leave things like frame bags on, but best to take most off as may well be in the way of other bikes / bits of train.
Good luck!

Bike carriages on Avanti are normally at the end (generally at the far end, coach A). As above, I don't know any way of finding out in advance which platform the train will be (although I guess you could go old fashioned and just ask someone) but it's normally up 10-15 minutes in advance.

You then need to try and find someone to actually open it if it isn't already open. Also worth reminding the train manager that you have a bike on and will be getting off at Preston.

At Preston you then jump off and attempt to find some bugger to open the bike carriage door so your bike doesn't carry on to Glasgow. You may have to stick your foot in the door to stop the train setting off if worst comes to worst.

For Preston to Blackburn there's no booking. There is a bike carriage with a bit of extra space but unless the train is packed then you're probably OK in any vestibule as it is only one stop (assuming you are on the fast train).

Get there a bit earlier than usual (half an hour is fine) and try and find a staff member on the platform, they often know which end of the train the bike carriage will be.

Citymapper (the app) will tell you the platform before they put it up on the boards in the station. Generally this is to allow the cleaning staff to have access to the train before the hordes descend.

[Other tools that display the online platform information that National Rail provides are available.]

You have to trust that they won't switch the platform on you at the last minute, but I've never had it happen to me.

And yes, the bike coach on those trains is usually at the far end of the platform from where you enter.

Actually what I usually do is look at the arrivals, which tell you the platform number, and find the one that has come from where I'm going to so I've got a slight early hint on platform. Doesn't always work, but trains generally go back to where they came from, so crews can get home, etc.

^Citymapper inside info is a good steer, thanks for that!

If it's a Virgin train, and you buy the ticket directly from Virgin, then there is an option to get updates by text. These come through about 5 mins before the platform is announced on the main concourse, giving you a little headstart in getting to the gate before the masses

I was at Euston the other day and the new screens don't seem to show arrivals anymore. Citymapper thing looks interesting though.

All of these things work by being clients of the National Rail "Darwin" live data feeds.

Plenty of very geeky information concerning and using these feeds is available all over the internet. Some websites such as signalbox.io that use the datafeeds are very nice indeed. There also sites that specialise in the carriage makeup of trains, letting you know whereabouts on a platform you should stand for coach F, or whatever.

There are equivalent feeds and services in European countries too. Super handy when interrailing with kids and luggage...

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ is another good one (detailed view).

I'm running the gauntlet of East Croydon - Three Bridges (via Gatwick Airport) on Southern Rail tomorrow afternoon. Fortunately not during rush hour, but I expect it'll be rammed nonetheless.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/ is another good one (detailed view).

Oh yes, I'd forgotten about that site. It's great.

The bike carriage on southern is marked by a big red band by the side of the door. It doubles as space for wheelchairs and last time I used southern a family with pushchairs had taken up residence. No one seems to mind a bike blocking the doors provided you’re there to adjust its position as required. Obs there’s loads of luggage as people make their way to Gatwick.

Ah, cheers. Good to know about the red band. It's the Gatwick mob I'm worried about, though. Paid £80 for luggage allowance so BOY are they going to use it.

Isn't that route sometimes a Great Northern service, Peterborough to Horsham train? They aren't as good at marking the carriages (if I recall, there is sometimes a grey wheelchair symbol on a grey (!) background on the appropriate carriage). But I've never had a problem putting a bike on those trains, admittedly north of London, + most of the doors have somewhere you can lean, on the luggage racks or in the standing space.

There's Cambridge to Brighton Great Northern services that call at East Croydon and Three Bridges.

It was the Southern service and was fine. Surprisingly not that packed. Two French trains in to my current tour and they do seem better prepared with those bike hanger things, though an element of trust is involved with the SNCF Remi trains as you can't sit next to your bike.

Just trying to plan a mini tour to the south coast with a train to get home at the end of day 2. Massive pain in the arse to work out what's needed as the national rail app says that no bike reservation is required, but the GWR site says that you need to have one. It won't let me add one as there's apparently no bike spaces remaining, so that's that plan buggered.

Always call or check online first.
Sorry you had to learn it the hard way.
You may be able to catch a succession of local stopping trains which take bikes without reservation.

Bit of a PITA I'm sure, but can you remove wheels and bars and box it, then just say it's luggage, as it's not a complete bike? There's always someone with a suitcase on every train that's far bigger than that would be.

(this probably gets suggested a lot and is a no-goer, I bet)

Trainline app and website show bike space status on their search (though you still have to reserve direct with the train operator), could help.

something I discovered about GWR this week is - select a journey, chose the cheap advance ticket, click "reserve bicycle", it says "there are no spaces on this train please choose a different train". Go back, select the same journey, chose the standard off-peak "walk-up" fare (twice the price in my case), click "reserve bicycle", it says "no problem that's booked for you". conspiracy or cock-up? you decide!

EDIT: it may be possible to book the cheap advance ticket & then add a bike space later via a different channel, seems like a risk, but maybe worth a go...